Junior Library Guild

JLG  Case Studies

• Illinois State University Teaching Materials Center
• Merrill Area Public Schools

Illinois State University Teaching Materials Center
Normal, Illinois
Julie Derden, Teaching Materials Librarian

SITUATION: Teaching Materials Center at a highly respected Midwest university must meet the evolving needs of education faculty and students, as well as others in the surrounding teaching community who use its materials.

As one of the largest teacher preparation institutions in the country, Illinois State University enrolls over 3,000 students in various areas of teacher education from bachelors through doctorate degrees, and offers professional development programs for educational professionals as well. 

The Teaching Materials Center (TMC), located on campus in the Milner Library, provides faculty and students with print and nonprint materials supporting the courses and programs offered by the College of Education and all the departments offering teacher education sequences. In addition, the TMC also supports the children’s and young adult literature courses in the English Department. Teaching Materials Librarian Julie Derden oversees the TMC, and with an annual materials budget of $25,000, is responsible for collection development.

“Because the TMC is the largest resource of its kind in our area—and one of the largest in the state of Illinois—local teachers and student teachers also depend on our collection,” Derden said. “We have to meet needs beyond our own campus.”

SOLUTION:  Junior Library Guild’s high-quality titles provide the variety needed by students and faculty.

When she became the Teaching Materials Librarian in 2006, Derden quickly realized that collection development—the TMC provides picture books, fiction and nonfiction titles, elementary and high school textbooks, plus supporting materials in all subject areas—would be one of her greatest challenges. She found the help she was looking for at the Junior Library Guild booth at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibit. “Other librarians around the booth were telling me how wonderful JLG was,” she said. After discussing her unique needs with the JLG representative, she signed up for all available levels.

Because the TMC functions as a model school library for students to use as they prepare for careers in teaching, Derden always needs a complete range of high-quality, leveled titles. “Junior Library Guild’s levels are nicely tailored for our students to use in unit development and lesson planning,” she said.   

“What I originally liked so much about JLG was that it was geared for PreK – 12, and I knew I was getting the best of the best,” Derden added.  And although University dictates that her collection development money must be spent by a certain date, JLG’s twelve monthly shipments ensure that the TMC will keep getting new books it needs all year long.

RESULTS: New Reading Levels and Series Nonfiction Levels help make the Illinois State TMC a valuable education resource for all its patrons.

Derden said that she continues to be impressed by the variety of titles included in each level, as well as the new levels that are added each year—especially the Series Nonfiction Levels.

 “It’s so hard to find and buy quality nonfiction, I’m delighted to see it from Junior Library Guild. According to the new Common Core State Standards Initiative, 50 percent of K – 12 required reading will be nonfiction,” Derden noted. She added that Illinois is one of forty-two states (plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands) that have signed on to the voluntary, state-led effort establishing a shared set of clear educational standards for English language arts and mathematics.

To keep up with the needs of the ever-growing number of undergraduate education students at Illinois State who are being trained in the new core standards, Derden has ordered all the currently available Series Nonfiction Social Studies and Science Levels for the TMC.

“I love the variety and quality of Junior Library Guild books. Working with JLG has made a world of difference in my collection development plan for the TMC.”

Merrill Area Public Schools
Merrill, Wisconsin
Jenny Eder, Elementary School Media Specialist

SITUATION: Lone Media Specialist in a rural district must respond to the needs and budgets of four very different elementary schools.  

Located in a rural Merrill, Wisconsin, Merrill Area Public Schools (MAPS) serves 1,199 K – 5 students in five elementary schools. The district also includes one middle school and one high school, for a total student population of just over 3,000.

Four of the elementary schools, with a total of 978 students, share a single media specialist who visits each school and is responsible for all collection development. Budgets for the elementary schools vary from $2,000 to $10,000 yearly, according to the student population.

Demographics of each elementary in this geographically large district—it covers 565 square miles and overlaps two counties—vary considerably. Students living within the city of Merrill attend one of three schools: Kate Goodrich Elementary, the newest of the schools and, with a diverse population of 400 pupils, the largest; Washington Elementary with about 300 students including English speakers and English language learners; and Jefferson Elementary with about 250 students. The fourth elementary, Maple Grove, has less than 200 students. It’s over 100 years old and has served many generations of  residents from the Township of Hamburg. 

SOLUTION: Junior Library Guild can function as a “virtual assistant,” saving time and effort.

Providing thoughtful collection development to schools as diverse and spread out as these required time Elementary School Media Specialist Jenny Eder just didn’t have. With four schools to visit each week and no one to help with reviewing, selecting, and purchasing books, Eder was looking for a solution that would save time and provide flexibility.

 “MAPS middle school librarian, who also selects and buys books for Pine River—our  fifth elementary school—was very satisfied with the service, selection, and quality of books from Junior Library Guild, so I thought I’d try it, as well,” Eder said. She needed the kind of help her district just couldn’t afford to hire for her. Starting with a few specific levels that worked well for each school, she has slowly increased her order over the past few years and now receives a total of  28 levels.  

According to Eder, “Using JLG as a collection development service saves so much time, it’s like hiring a second person.” And because she can select JLG levels based on the individual needs and budgets of her schools, Eder says she has the flexibility to respond to each unique student population. “I just do a quick title analysis, and I know right away which areas I have to beef up for each school.”

RESULTS: High-quality selections work for all four schools.

With four schools to juggle, making sure her fiction and nonfiction selections always support the curriculum for each grade is a challenge. But she has found that JLG’s high-quality selections, divided into a wide variety of leveled genres, satisfy her teachers’ needs as well as her development plan. “Not only do JLG selections fit with our curriculum, but a lot of the books we buy end up being selected as award winners. When we hear the Caldecott or Newbery winner announced—we already have it.”

And Eder has found that JLG can help with some of the genres she has trouble selecting. “It really hard to find good picture books,” she said. “And the kids like graphic novels, but you have to be careful. With JLG, we don’t have to worry.”